Incandescent gas fires



June 8, 1965 Filed Nov. 19, 1962 A. F. OATLEY INCANDESCENT GAS FIRES 2Sheets-Sheet 1 June 8, 1965 A. F. OATLEY INCANDESCENT GAS FIRES 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 19, 1962 United States Patent 3,187,741DICANDESCENT GAS FIRES Arthur Frederick Oatley, Wilton Lodge, WergsRoad, Tettenhall, Wolverhampton, England Filed Nov. 19, 1962, Ser. No.238,353 3 Claims. (Cl. 126-92) The present invention relates to anincandescent gas fire provided with an air heater, for warmingconvection air. An object of the present invention is to provide such afire with an air heater heated by the backs of the radiants and whichincludes a front Wall against which the radiants rest and which isapertured opposite the backs of the radiants.

Radiation from the backs of the radiants can pass through the aperturesto heat air in the heater while convection air currents are preventedfrom close contact with the backs of the radiants and so cooling them toan extent which would impair their radiation efliciency.

The air heater may have a corrugated partition the corrugations of whichwith the front wall define substantially upright front passages intowhich the aperture open.

The corrugations may extend from the front wall across an air spacebehind the front wall towards a wall at the rear of the space with whichthe partition defines substantially upright rear passages.

The front wall opposite the upper part of the backs of the radiants maynot be apertured but have heat transmitting portions of reducedthickness.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of examplewith reference to the accompanying drawings in which,

FIGURE 1 is a front view of a gas fire according to the presentinvention.

FIGURE 2 is a section on line 2--2 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a section on line 3-3 of FIGURE 1.

This gas fire is arranged to be fitted in a fire-place opening and has acasing which includes a frame portion 4 for the fire proper and an outerportion 5 which is dimensioned to fit closely the fire-place opening, soas to close the opening. The frame portion 4 is formed as a casting andincludes an upright rear wall 6 having extending horizontally forwardsfrom its lower edge an integral flange 7. The flange 7 supports a gasburner tube 8 having a double row of upwardly directed gas jets 9extending along its length. Above the burner jets 5 radiants 10 aresupported side by side by a carrier 11 secured to the burner tube 8. Thecarrier 11 is of substantially L-section, the longer limb being arrangedhorizontally above the jets 9 to support the radiants 10 and the shorterlimb extending vertically downwards in front of the jets and secured tothe burner. Openings 12 are provided through the longer horizontal limbof the carrier 11 above the jets.

Above the radiants 1t) and forming part of the frame portion 4 a simpleconvector heat exchanger 13 is provided which is heated by products ofcombustion from the burner jets. These products of combustion are madeto circulate all around the heat exchanger by means of a baffie plate 14before leaving through twin flue outlets 15. In this way a good deal ofthe heat in the products is imparted to the heat exchanger before theyenter the flue outlets 15.

At the rear of the frame portion an air duct 16 is formed, which is openat each end and extends from the bottom edge of the rear wall 6 upwardsbehind the rear wall and the heat exchanger 13 and is curved forwardsover the heat exchanger towards the front of the fire. Side walls of theduct are formed by rearwardly extending flanges 17 formed integrallywith the cast frame portion and a back wall of the duct is formed at itslower 3,187,741 Patented June 8, 1965 portion by a sheet metal plate 18secured to the side flanges 17 opposite the rear wall 6 and at its upperportion by a curved sheet metal plate 19 connected to the lower plate 18and also secured to the side flanges 17, opposite the heat exchanger.

The rear wall 6 has an opening 26 corresponding substantially in shapeto, but slightly larger in area than, the backs of the radiants 10 whichare supported so that their backs are disposed in this opening 20. Onthe rear surface of the rear wall 6, in the air duct 16 and in registerwith the opening 20, a convection air heater 21 is mounted. The airheater 21 may be permanently fixed to the rear wall or, alternatively,it may be removably mounted. The air heater 21 has a front wall 22formed as a metal casting, which is secured to the rear wall 6 andcorresponds substantially in shape and area to the opening 20 and thusconsequently to the shape and area of the radiant backs. Secured to thefront wall 22 there is a corrugated partition 23 the corrugations ofwhich extend from the front wall 22 across the air duct towards thelower back plate 18 of the duct, so that between the front wall and thecorrugations of the partition 22 a series of open-ended upright passages24 are defined and a series of open-ended upright channels 25 aredefined between the lower back plate 18 of the duct and the partition.The corrugations of the partition are preferably, as shown in FIGURE 3,straight-sided so that the cross-sectional shape of the passages andchannels is substantially triangular.

The radiants are made from a refractory material and are of the blocktype with closed back and side walls and bars in the front wall above acombustion chamber in one piece with the radiant proper. The radiantsare arranged so that they rest flush against the front surface of thefront wall 22 of the air heater. Because the backs of the radiants areclosed, products of combustion are prevented from coming into contactwith the air heater.

In the lower portion of the front wall 22 of the air heater, circularapertures 26 are provided so that radiation from the backs of theradiants can pass through these apertures 26 to heat the passages andchannels, while convection air currents are prevented from close contactwith the backs of the radiants and so cooling them to an extent whichwould impair their radiation efl'iciency. The apertures 26 are arrangedso that they open into the upright passages 24 of the air heater. Thepartition 23, because of its corrugated form, provides an extendedsurface to receive heat radiated by the radiant backs directly throughthe apertures 26 and through the front wall itself to the passages 24and heat the air in the channels 25 behind the partition. In the insidesurface of the upper portion of the front wall 22 recesses 27 are formedwhich provide areas of reduced wall thickness so as to facilitate heattransmittance through the front wall to the passages 24.

Air to be heated in the air heater is drawn from the room through aninlet grille 28 in the front wall of the outer portion 5 of the firecasing, below the level of the burner jets. This air enters the bottomend of the air duct and flows upwards by convection into the lower endsof the passages 24 and the channels 25. The air is heated as it flowsupwards to the upper ends of the passages and channels. After leavingthe passages and channels the heated air continues flowing upwards inthe duct and is directed back into the room again through an outletgrille 29 at the upper end of the front wall of the outer portion of thecasing. To reduce loss of heat in the duct the back plates 18 and 19 ofthe duct may have a reflecting finish on their inside surfaces.

Not all the air entering the casing passes through the air duct and airheater, some of the air passes between the closed back of the casing andthe back wall of the air duct and is heated only slightlytby heatemitted by the air heater and back wall of the duct. The slightly heatedair flows upwards betweenthe casing back and the back wall of the airduct, over the forwardly curved upper end portion of the air duct andout into the room against through the outlet grille 29 togetherwith theair heated in the air duct by the air heater.

I claim: 7

1. An incandescent gas fire having a casing including a frame portion, agas burner tube mounted on the frame portion and having a row of jets,closed-back hollow radiants mounted side-by-side above the row of jets,there being openings in the bases of the radiants into'the hollowinterior of the radiants in register with the jets, an air inlet throughthe lower part of the casing, an air outlet through the upper part ofthe casing, a duct within the casing behind the radiant leading from theair inlet to the air outlet, an apertured plate behind the radiantsforming a part of the front wall of the duct and a vertically corrugatedpartition against the apertured plate and 20 dividing the platelaterally from the remainder of the duct.

2. An incandescent gas fire according to claim 1 wherein the corrugatedpartition defines with the apertured plate and the duct front and rearchannels adapted for the upward passage of air by convection.

3. An incandescent gas fire having a casing including a frame portion, agas burner tube mounted on the frame portion and having a row of jets,closed-back hollow radiants mounted side-by-side above the row of jets,there being openings in the base of the radiants into the hollowinterior of the radiants inregister with the jets, an air inlet throughthe lower, part ofthe casing, an air outlet through the upper part ofthe casing, a duct within the casing behind the radiant leading from theair inlet to the air outlet, a heat conducting and radiating platebehind, and in contact with the backs of, the radiants and forming apart of the front wall of-the duct and a vertically corrugated partitionagainst the plate and defining with the plate and the duct front andrear channels adapted for the upward passage of air by convection.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 465,911 12/91Ballard 126-87 1,559,217 10/25 Yokel l26--92 1,611,983 12/26 Andrews126-92 FOREIGN PATENTS 106,361 5/17 Great Britain.

25 JAMES w. WESTHAVER, Primary Examiner.

FREDERICK KETTERER, Examiner.

1. AN INCANDESCENT GAS FIRE HAVING A CASING INCLUDING A FRAME PORTION, AGAS BURNER TUBE MOUNTED ON THE FRAME PORTION AND HAVING A ROW OF JETS,CLOSED-BACK HOLLOW RADIANTS MOUNTED SIDE-BY-SIDE ABOVE THE ROW OF JETS,THERE BEING OPENINGS IN THE BASES OF THE RADIANTS INTO THE HOLLOWINTERIOR OF THE RADIANTS IN REGISTER WITH THE JETS, AN AIR INLET THROUGHTHE LOWER PART OF THE CASING, AN AIR OUTLET THROUGH THE UPPER PART OFTHE CASING, A DUCT WITHIN THE CASING BEHIND THE RADIANT LEADING FROM THEAIR INLET TO THE AIR OUTLET, AN APERTURED PLATE BEHIND THE RADIANTSFORMING A PART OF THE FRONT WALL OF THE DUCT AND A VERTICALLY CORRUGATEDPARTITION AGAINST THE APERTURED PLATE AND DIVIDING THE PLATE LATERALLYFROM THE REMAINDER OF THE DUCT.